


Red Comfort

by Raikim4Never



Category: Star vs. The Forces Of Evil
Genre: (took out the Star/Tom tag, But I had to get this out, But only like her giggling at one point, Crossover with my Monster Carvers AU near or after the end, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I did this practically in one go, Multi, The Star/Tom breakup effed me up man, There's some Monster Carvers!Star in there too, This is entirely too pretentious a title for a WIP part fic goshdang, WIP part, and a few references to her, bc i finally figured out talking about a breakup prbly doesn't justify using the tag), before the next episodes air and dash my hopes, but i can dream, or as much a wip part of a project I'm not working on can be, probably not canon compliant, so casual spoilers there, so no Star tag for this fic nope
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-07
Updated: 2019-05-07
Packaged: 2020-02-27 19:28:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18745585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raikim4Never/pseuds/Raikim4Never
Summary: After a little needling (and some forcing of the issue) Tom and Marco have a much-needed talk about recent events.





	Red Comfort

**Author's Note:**

> As noted in the tags, this is a crossover with my Monster Carvers fic, sort of, so there will be spoilers for chapters that frankly don't exist yet. That said, the most important focus is on "Canon" Tom and Marco (or ""Canon"", as I'm calling the versions who get influenced by the Monster Carver trio).
> 
> As a heads up: Star is named Katrina (Marco eventually gives her the nickname Reena) in the Monster Carvers 'verse because she was adopted by Buff Frog. No, really.

“Okay, kid. What the heck happened between the three of you?”

 

“I’m not a kid,” the fifteen year old Tom told his nineteen year old counterpart with a huff. His older self just gave him a _look._ “Look, Star and I just broke up, okay?” Younger Tom glared. “Not that you would know what that’s like, since apparently things have just,” he grit his teeth and threw his hands in the air, “been great and perfect and _amazing_  if the mark on your finger is any indication!”

 

Older Tom just gave his younger self an unimpressed look.

 

“Why, exactly, did you break up, anyway?” he asked, tone carefully neutral.

 

“Who cares?!” younger Tom snapped. “It’s not like it affects you!”

 

Older Tom raised two of his eyebrows.

 

“Maybe I just don’t like seeing a version of me act like a dumbass about this.” Younger Tom gaped at him, and he grinned. “Perks of being an adult, kid: I can swear.”

 

“ ** **I AM NOT A KID!**** ”

 

“Fifteen is totally a kid, but fine.”

 

_You’re hearing this, right?_

_No, Tom, our mental bond spontaneously stopped working when we crossed into this dimension. You’re just hallucinating my voice in your head. See a psychiatrist._

_Hehehe._

_Shush, you. I get the feeling I need Marco for this. You just talk to your mini-you._

_You realize I was and am *also* doing that, right?_

_Shush!_

_You literally are the one who reached out to *me*!_

__

“That doesn’t answer my question, though.” Younger Tom huffed and turned away.

 

“It’s not,” he growled through gritted teeth. “Your business.” Older Tom sighed.

 

“Okay, I’ll guess then.”

 

“Can we change the topic?”

 

“No.” He gave his younger self a look over. “You were feeling left out, and figured, _like a dumbass,_ that somehow being all self-sacrificial and breaking up with your girlfriend whom you love would make her and your best friend _happy_. Did I hit the mark?” Younger Tom scowled, resisting the urge the burst into flame. Older Tom smirked. “Guess I did.” He sighed. “ _Look,_ kid. You’re right about one thing. I don’t… understand that. I don’t understand why you’d think that way. It has literally never crossed my mind to do something that stupid.”

__

_Liar._

_And once again, shush!_

 

“But that doesn’t mean that I don’t empathize with you, okay? Or sympathize. Whichever” He sighed again. “Okay, look. I really don’t think I was the right person to talk to you about this.” He looked away. “I think… I think Marco, my Marco, would be a better person for you to talk to. He understands this martyr…” he waved his ungloved hand in his younger self’s general direction, “ _stuff_ better than I do.”

__

_Oh now you want my help. Also, hey!_

_Am I wrong, Mr. I’m-gonna-live-through-my-friends-and-not-try-to-be-happy-myself?_

_…that was way too many words._

 

“And come to think of it, _your_ Marco would probably be a good person to talk to too.” The younger Tom startled. “After you talked to mine, at least.”

 

“What, no!” Younger Tom looked terrified at the thought. “No no no no no no. There’s nothing to talk about! Especially not with Marco! I’ve told him everything I needed to, okay?! There is nothing else to talk about!” Older Tom rubbed his temple.

 

“Sure there isn’t, kid.”

 

“ARGH. Would you quit calling me a kid just because _you’ve_ got your life together?!” The older Tom had the audacity to laugh and ruffled his younger counterpart’s hair.

 

“‘Got my life together?’ Mini-me, you have no idea what the life you and your friends pulled me away from is like. We were basically on our vacation.”

 

….…………~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~……………………..~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

“Hey, little Tom. My Tom said I should talk to you.” Tom groaned and laid his head on the desk in front of him, resigned.

 

“What did he tell you?” he asked.

 

“Everything, pretty much,” Older Marco shrugged, figuring it was easier to say then telling him he’d effectively been there the entire time. “Did you really break up with Star just to try and make her and mini-me happy?”

 

“Argh! No!” Tom huffed, propping himself up on the desk to glare at him. Marco knew that expression well enough to know that it was a lie, at least partially. “We were just moving in different directions! We were growing apart, and I decided to end it before…” Tom paused, heat suddenly gone as he looked back at the desk. “Before things got bad between us. Like I knew they were going to.” He screwed his eyes shut. “Why am I even telling you this?! It’s no more your business than older me’s!” Older Marco shrugged.

 

“I’m concerned, I guess.” He looked away. “I know what it’s like to feel like the third wheel around people you care about.” Tom blushed and scoffed.

 

“It’s not like that,” he said, looking down at his lap.

 

Marco looked back at him. _Now_ he was outright lying. Tom glanced back in his direction for a second, then looked away quickly.

 

“It’s _not._ ”

 

“Y’know, Tom and Reena have been dating since just after Ponyhead introduced us to Truth or Punishment.”

 

“How am I supposed to know when that was?!” Tom snapped, whirling around towards Marco. “I wasn’t there! I’m not- I haven’t- I wasn’t their friend, whenever that was!”

 

Marco shrugged.

 

“Maybe not,” he admitted. “But how long they’ve been dating isn’t the point, exactly. What I mean is… it always kinda felt weird after that, even though I started dating Jackie not long after that. I mean, they were my best friends, we all _lived together._ Then I broke up with Jackie, and it became even more weird. They were all official, and their relationship was _important_ , and I felt like I was just their _friend_ , who just happened to be there too.” He smiled wistfully. “Not that it was like that all the time, of course. And… seeing them happy together made me happy too, even if it felt bittersweet at times.”

 

_Sap. <3_

_Oh hey, it’s my turn to use the word._

_…what word?_

_Shush!_

_I should have known._

__

“It felt like I was being left behind, I guess.” He gave Tom a sympathetic look. “It must have been even worse for you, being the actual boyfriend and all and still feeling that way.” He glanced at the ceiling. “Don’t make the same mistake I made for so long, Tom. _Talk to them._ Tell them how you really feel about this. Maybe it’s selfish, yeah, but everyone needs to be a little selfish sometimes. They need to know if they hurt you.”

 

Tom flinched.

 

“They didn’t hurt me!” he lied, blatantly. Marco just looked at him, expression unreadable.

 

“It might work out better than you expect,” he said gently after a minute, putting a hand on Tom’s shoulder. “And even if it doesn’t, clearing the air is like cleaning a wound. It hurts, yeah, but it helps in the long run. If they really will be happier without you, which I really, _really_ doubt, but if they _are_ ,” he paused, and somehow managed to look Tom dead in all three eyes, “then at least you’ll know for sure. There won’t have to be any doubts about your decision.”

 

Tom looked away, unable to look him in the face any longer.

 

….…………~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~……………………..~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

~~{Insert Older!Tom talking to Marco here maybe}~~

 

….…………~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~……………………..~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

Several days passed and, to the older Trio’s annoyance, none of their younger counterparts had made any real attempt to talk to each other. Eventually, they decided to stage an intervention of sorts. Tom and Marco had called their younger selves over from different parts of the castle for a favor. The two older boys lead the younger boys to the same room, and both younger boys froze when they saw each other.

 

“Alright, here’s the favor we need: _for you idiots to talk to each other._ ” Older Tom gave them a sharp toothed shark smile. “Bye!”

 

The two older boys bolted for the doors, and locked them behind them.

 

“HEY!” Tom tried to open, then break down, the door his counterpart had fled from, unaware that said counterpart was holding the door shut. “GET BACK HERE JERK!”

 

Marco just looked at him awkwardly, rubbed his arm, and looked away.

 

“...Tom.”

 

Tom froze for a second, the word ‘nope’ volleying around in his head at hyperspeed as he started to bang on the door more frantically.

 

“ _Tom_.” Marco put his hand on Tom’s shoulder, and the demon stiffened at the touch. “I… I need to talk to you.”

 

“Yeah, buddy?” Tom asked, turning around and trying to force a smile to block out the inexplicable dread that talking to Marco this second filled him with. Based on Marco’s expression, it failed miserably.

 

Marco took a deep breath and Tom sat down, bracing himself.

 

“Tom, I wanted to talk to you about the whole… giving me your blessing thing.”

 

Tom was _okay with it_. He was! Really! He _had to be!_  He wasn’t going to hurt them anymore. He wasn’t a jerk anymore!

 

He _wasn’t!_

 

“Yeah?” Tom shrugged. “I don’t really see why, though. I thought I was being pretty upfront.”

 

“Why?” Marco asked him. “You broke up with Star, then less than twenty-four hours later you’re telling me to go ahead and date her?” Marco looked… conflicted. “How… long were you planning all that?”

 

Tom looked away uncomfortably and shrugged.

 

“Oh, well, I… just figured, y’know, since… uh…” Tom sighed. “Look, it’s like I told Star, I did some soul-searching while I was on my trip and… I figured it would be best for everyone. For. For all three of us.” He smiled. “And like I told _you,_ it’s cool if you two get together! I know that…” he looked away and swallowed. “That you two… like each other.”

 

Marco let out a frustrated groan, startling Tom.

 

“Seriously?!” He snapped. “Everyone keeps saying that! Tad, Jackie, even you! At this point, I don’t know how I feel. I don’t know if I like Star like that, okay?! I don’t know how much of before was the Blood Moon, or how much of now is just from people telling me constantly that I love her or whatever! How can I trust my own feelings if everyone’s constantly telling me how I feel?! How am I supposed to know if I _really_ feel that way, or if it’s just because everyone is always telling me that’s how I feel?! Do you know how _messed up_ it feels, not being able to tell if however I feel is real, or if it’s just everyone basically gaslighting me?!”

 

Tom looked at him, shocked.

 

“I just… I thought you…”

 

“Well, I officially don’t know!” Marco said angrily, tears forming slightly in his eyes. “Maybe I do love Star! I don’t know! But you know what I _do_ know that I love?!” He balled his hands into tight fists. “I loved _seeing you two so happy!_ ” He snarled, and Tom couldn’t do anything but gape at him. “You two are just- you’re _great_ okay?! I care about you both! I was jealous sometimes, okay, alright, I admit it! But I still- argh! I was _rooting for you_!” The tears in his eyes got bigger.

 

Tom bit his lip, remembering the other Marco’s words. ‘ _Seeing them happy together made me happy too, even if it felt bittersweet at times.’_

 

“I just-” Marco took a breath. “Did you seriously break up with Star because you figured we’d be happier without you?!” He threw his hands in the air. “Well newsflash! We _won’t_. _Ever._  You’re just- you’re _too important._ We care about you so much. Both of us!” Marco dropped to his knees and hugged him and Tom stiffened in surprise. “We _care about you,_ okay?! We can’t- we aren’t going to be happy in a future without you in it.”

 

“Stop.” Tom’s voice was shaky and he hated it. Marco tightened his grip on him.

 

“Maybe I can’t speak for Star. Maybe I can’t really know for sure. But I know she feels terrible about how she treated you, and I saw how broken up she was about you trying to walk away.”

 

“ _Stop_.” Tom’s claws dug into the ground, and he started trembling.

 

“And I _know_ that there’s no way you’re really okay with this. I know how much you care about Star. You didn’t stop loving her, however twisted it was at first, when you broke up the first time. Am I really supposed to believe that… that you’d ever be okay with this after it nearly destroyed you the first time?!”

 

“STOP!” Tom snarled and burst into flames. He wrapped his arms around Marco and dug his claws into his back and his teeth into his shoulder for good measure too. “STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT.” The words were somewhat muffled through Marco’s shoulder, but came through loud and clear anyway.

 

Marco hissed in pain, but didn’t let go. He was surprised to realize that the fire was only _hot_ and not incinerating him or setting his clothes or hair on fire.

 

“THIS WAS THE HARDEST THING I’VE EVER DONE IN MY _LIFE._ I JUST WANTED YOU TWO TO BE HAPPY!” Tom was crying now, and he hated it. “AND YOU’RE NOT GOING TO BE IF I’M IN YOUR WAY! YOU’RE BOTH TOO IMPORTANT TO ME TO DO THAT TO YOU.” Some part of his mind noted the feel of blood beneath his claws and copper on his tongue, but he ignored it. “ _I LOVE YOU BOTH SO MUCH_ AND I KNOW THAT YOU BOTH Don’t…” He shuddered, putting himself out and finally removing his fangs from where they were embedded. “…that you both don’t care about me as much as I care about you.”

 

Marco gripped him tighter.

 

“Don’t say that,” Marco told him quietly. “Don’t ever say that. We both love you.” He started crying too, finally. “So, _so_ much. I’m so sorry we ever made you feel like we didn’t.”

 

Tom sobbed, pulling his hands away just enough for his claws to come out of Marco’s back.

 

“We can’t be happy without you,” Marco said gently, then pulled away from the hug to look Tom in his eyes as best he could. “At least I know I can’t, and I’m sure Star would agree with me. I’m so sorry we hurt you.”

 

“She was _relieved_ ,” Tom sobbed. “She was upset, yeah, but I could see that she was _relieved_ when I broke up with her! She doesn’t want me! She wants _you_!”

 

“Are you sure?” Marco asked him, pulling him back into the hug and stroking his hair in a weirdly calming way. “Are you absolutely, totally sure? Because I can’t believe that. She loves you, Tom. Just like I do.”

 

“I can’t,” another sob, and Tom wrapped his arms tightly around Marco, “I can’t have messed this up again. Not again. _Why do I keep messing this up_?!”

 

“Shhhh.”

 

“I just want to do the right thing! I just- I just want you two to be happy!”

 

“Shhhh.”

 

Tom hung onto Marco like he was a lifeline, being careful to avoid putting more holes in him this time.

 

“Why am I _so bad at this?!_ ”

 

“It’s okay, Tom. It’ll be okay.”

 

Tom slumped over awkwardly, burying his face in Marco’s chest and staining his hoodie with makeup, all while still trying to keep his arms around Marco’s torso.

 

“ _It hurts so much._ ”

 

“I know.” A few of Marco’s tears landed on the back of Tom’s head. “I know it does.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Marco<>Tom OTP (just kidding don't kill me)  
>  ~~well maybe not entierly kidding~~


End file.
